Peters



(No Model.) I BShetS-Sheet 1. E; T. THQMAS.

' Sewing Machine.

No. 240,199. Patented April 12,188l.

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['lFETERs. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, n C.

(No Model.) Q 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

E. T. THOMAS.

Sewing Machine. No. 240,199. Patented April 12,1881

a) 1 yk ff" RS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPNEH, WASHINGYON. D. C

(No Model.) I 3 Sheets-Sheet 3. E. T. THOMAS. Sewing Maehine. No. 240,199. Pat ente d April 12, I88l.

UNITED STATES FFICE.

PATENT EDDY T. THOMAS, OF NEWV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO GOLD MEDAL SEWING-MACHINE COMPANY, OF ORANGE, MASS.

SEWING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 240,199, dated April 12, 1881.

Application filed August 13, 1880. (No model.) I

10 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDDY T. THOMAS, of New York, New York county, State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Sewing-Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

This invention relates to and is shown embodied in that class of sewing-machines employing an oscillating shuttle and eye-pointed needle, substantially such as described in United States Patent No. 230,677, heretofore granted to me, and to which reference may be had.

One feature of this present invention consists in a spiral or twisted shaft, having its surface or outline shaped or curved to correspond with the arc in which the vibrating arm for oscillating the said shaft moves, such construction insuring a close and accurate fit of the fork carried by the said vibrating arm with the said spiral shaft.

Another part of myinvention consists in mechanism, hereinafter described, to raise or lower the feeding device and to move it backward and forward positively; also, in apresserfoot bar provided with a collar having a tapering pin adapted to enter a curved and tapering slot in a presser-spring also, in the combination, with such a presser-bar, pin, and slotted spring, of a holder to hold the presserbar in adjusted position, with the foot in working position or turned aside; also, in details of construction of the take-up mechanism.

Figure 1 represents, in side elevation, a sewingmachine containing my improvements; Fig. 2, an under-side view thereof, apart of the frame being cut away, and the spiral shaft being in section; Fig. 3, a front view of the head of the machine, showing the needle-bar, presser-bar, take-up, and crank and link for moving the needle-bar. Fig. 4. represents the rear end of the machine, with the frame-work broken out. Fig. 5 is a side elevation and front end of the presser-spring for holding down the presser-bar, and section through the conical pin of the presser-bar, the latter being supposed to be lifted; Fig. 6, details of the take-up, its operating-cam and eye-piece, from which the thread is drawn in two or more bights by the take-up lever; Fig. 7, a detail sewing-machines,

showing the eccentric pin or hub for the feedlifting lever. Fig. 8 represents, in detail, the curved spiral shaft on a larger scale, and the blank from which said spiral shaft is made, to more clearly show the inward curve to the said shaft; and Fig. 9 is a detail of the rear end of the lever i.

The frame-work a, cloth-plate b, and head 0 are of usual or suitable construction. The main driven shaft d of the machine has at its front end a crank, d, the pin of which is connected with the link d attached to a pin on a block, d secured to the needle-bar (i provided, as usual, with a needle, d

In sewing-machines heretofore constructed,

as far as I am aware, the needle-bar has usually been placed substantially in a line with the shaft 61 and at right angles to its axis; but in this myinvention I have placed the needlebar at one side of the said center, as represented in Fig. .3, so that the said link d and the needle-bar are substantially in the same vertical line when the most strain is exerted upon the needle-barviz., just as theneedleis penetrating the material being sewed. I This construction obviates very materially the wear upon the needle-bar and its bearings, and consequently increases the durability of the machine. At the rear of the crank there is placed upon the shaft cl a cam, e; or, if desired, the hub of the said crank may be turned to constitute the said cam. This cam, as the needles bar is descending from its highest to its lowest position, is of such shape as to cause the upper end of the take-up lever c to be thrown back into its farthest position away from the eye-piece 0 but just as the needle-bar commences to rise the cam, by means of its shape, permits the lower end of the take-up lever to approach the center of the shaft 01, under the action of a spring, e the upper end of the take-up lever then moving into the position shown in Fig. 6, where it remains until the needle-bar reaches substantially its highest position, when the cam again operates the takeup lever to throw it back into the position shown in Fig. 3, taking up the slack in the needle-thread and holding it there While the needle again descends. This take-up lever 6 has two slotted arn'1s,2 3. (See Fig. 6.) The eye-piece e which receives the needle-thread,

has three eyes, and the needle-thread, between the spool 00 and needle, is passed through the said three eyes and through openings of the arms 2 3, as shown in the detail-figure 6. The said take-up lever e, by reason of its two branches co-operating with the three eyes of the eye-piece, takes up a larger amount of thread with a smaller movement of the lever 6 than would be the case had the take-up 1ever but one arm and it co-operated with two thread-eyes. Substantially such a thread takeup is described in another application for United States Patent filed by me May 12, 1880; but in this present application the eye-piece e is made vertically adjustable on the head of the machine by a screw, 6. (See Fig. 1.)

The eyes of the take-up lever being elongated, adjustment of the eye-piece up or down will enable the take-up device a to take up just the desired quantity of thread. This same shaft d has upon it an eccentric, f, that actuates the connecting-rod f, forked at its lower end to embrace a ball-like termination,

f of a short link,f ,connected by pin 8 with the rear end of the vibrating shuttle-actuating lever f pivoted at f the said lever, at its forward end, having a fork, f, to embrace the spiral shaft f ,provided at its upper end with a shuttle driver or carriage, as represented in my patent before referred to. This spiral shaft f instead of being of uniform diameter from end to end, as described in the said patent, is shaped, substantially as shown in the drawings, by a suitable cutting or milling tool, so that that part of the spiral shaft along and over which the fork f travels has its edge curved or shaped to coincide with the arc of a circle described from the center, f ,'about which the shuttle-actuating lever and its fork f turn, the forkf thereby traveling in the same are. This enables me to drive the spiral shaft more positively and with less friction and wear, and with less lost motion than would occur were the spiral shaft of the same size from end to end.

On the shaft d, at the rear end of the eccentrio f, is an eccentric, g, that operates a strap, 9, secured at its lower end to a connectingrod, 9 pivoted at its outer end upon an adjustable fulcrum-block, 9 having screwed into it a thumb-nut, g, the shank of which is extended through a slot, 9 in the clothsupv port I).

The pin 9 is fitted to slide endwise loosely in the rock-shaft g". and consequently serves as an adjustable arm for the said shaft. The pin 9 is connected with the fulcrum-block g through the connecting-rod g and the lower end ofthe strap g, and the adjustment of block g horizontally serves to move the head of the pin g nearer to or farther from the center of the rock-shaft, thus regulating the throw of said rock-shaft, and consequently the movements of the feed-bar. The farther the fulcrum-block is adjusted toward the left of Fi 4 the shorter the stitch, and vice versa. A headed pin, gpivoted upon the lower end of the strap g, is extended through an opening made for it in the shaft 9", so that the movement of the eccentric and strap g rocks the said shaft 9 causing a finger, g", at its front end to act within a notch at the lower side of the feed-bar h and move said feed-bar backward and forward. The toothed feed-bar h is supported at its rear end upon the pin or screw h and at its front end upon the end 6 of the feed-lever i, it having its fulcrum on an eccentric pin or stud (See Figs.1, 2, and 7.)

The rear end of the lever t' has a slot, 2' which is entered by the pin 8, that connects the lever f 4 with the short link f and consequent ly as the link f is raised and lowered the said pin 8 acts to rock the lever i on its fulcrum i and raise and lower the feed a certain distance at each operation. The eccentric pin or fulcrum i of this lever has connected with it a spring-arm, which eo-operates with slots 10 in a segment, m, serving as a locking device to hold the said eccentric fulcrum in adjusted position. Change of position of this eccentric fulcrum enables the operator to cause the feedbar to be more or less elevated above the throatplate, in order to adapt the feed to that class of material being moved by it. The presserbar Z has fixed upon it a collar, I, having a conical projection, 12, that is extended upward in a slot, 13, in the end of the adjustable spring 1 of usual construction, controlled as to its extent of downward pressure by the set-screw Z, and lifted in the usual manner by a short lever, 1. This slot 13is curved, andis also tapered from its under side upward, in order to fit closely the conical projection 12. This conical projection is provided with a hole tapped to receive a screw, 15, the head of the screw being of greater diameter than the slot 13, so that the spring l ,when lifted, will act upon the head of the said screw and lift the presser-bar and its attached foot m. At times it is desired to turn the presser-foot m aside from the needle and from above the feed. The curved shape of the slot 13 permits this to be done, and to retain the presser bar and foot in one 'or other of its two positions.

1 have added to the spring 1 a presser-foot detaining-spring, 16, that operates upon one or the other side of the head of the screw, according to the position of the said screw and the presser-bar l.

I claim- 1. In a sewing-machine, the shuttle-actuating lever f means to vibrate it, and its fork f combined with the spiral or twisted shaft 7 and its shuttle-driver, the said spiral shaft having its edges or parts which are to be acted upon by the fork curved to correspond with the arc of a circle described substantially from the center of motion of the lever f, as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The feed-bar h, rocking-shaft g provided with finger g, rotating shaft d, eccentric g, and strap 9, combined with the connecting-rod 9 its adjustable fulcrum-block, and the pivoted pin extended through an opening in the said rocker-shaft, the said devices imparting forward and backward movementto the said feeding-bar, substantially as described.

3. The feed-bar it, supported at one end on the screw or stud 72 and at its other end on the feed-dog-lifting lever i, the rocking shaft 9 its finger g and means to rock the said shaft fora greater or less distance, combined with the said lifting-leveri and its adjustable eccentric fulcrum pin or stud i and means to adjust and hold it in adjusted position, and to move the lever i, substantially as described.

4. In asewing-machine,afeed-dogandmeans to reciprocate it, combined with an independent lever to support one end of the said feeddog, raise and lower it at each stitch, and

means to operate the said lever, combined with the adjustable eccentric or stud, which serves as a fulcrum for the said feed-lifting lever, substantially as described.

5. The take-uplever 0, having two arms with eyes, a cam to vibrate it, and means to move the cam, combined with the eye-piece having three eyes, and means to adjust its position to thereby take up or pull back more or less of 2 5 bined with the holding-spring .16, adapted to act upon the head 15 at one or the other side, according to its position on the slot 13, to hold the presser-foot bar and the presser in proper axial position, substantially as described.

In testimony whereofl have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDDY TAYLOR THOMAS.

Witnesses:

R. M. Rosn, SPENCER C. DOTY. 

